Review: Fly Me to the Moon: Volume One

I have discovered a new genre in romance: historical stories with science, contemporary attitudes and consent, and I am here for it.

The three-novel Fly Me to the Moon set by Emma Barry and Genevieve Turner combines my favorite things by setting the novels in the space race fever of the 1950s and populating them with strong, independent women. Each book focuses on a different character within the social structure of the first astronauts in a fictional version of NASA.

In Star Dust, divorcee’ Anne-Marie faces cultural and family disapproval as she starts a new life with her children, and that new life happens to be next door to the hunky, devil-may-care Commander Kit Campbell. She doesn’t want to complicate her family’s life with a new man in the picture, and he doesn’t want to be tied down, but the attraction is hot, sexy and irresistible. His friends think she’ll be an easy mark; after all, she is divorced, right? But Kit is intrigued by Anne-Marie’s fiery hair and personality. The sex scenes in Star Dust will steam up your Kindle screen, but you’ll get a chance to catch your breath before the happy-ever-after.

The next book, Earth Bound, may be my favorite because the two characters are very difficult people to love. Dr. Charlie Eason, a brilliant computer scientist, and engineer Eugene Parsons are not cuddly meet-cute types. They are both hard, driven people who literally devote nearly every waking hour to ensuring the first space launch goes successfully.  At first, their relationship is about lust and sexual fulfillment, and love finally enters a good five paces behind duty and respect. An interesting detail is that Charlie uses her makeup like armor; once the face is on, her façade is impenetrable. The authors make these characters work for their happy ending, and it feels right. There’s no compromising Charlie or Eugene’s character in giving them what they want, and it’s a fascinating journey.

Wrapping up the trio is A Midnight Clear, a sweet Christmas romance between the unofficial head of the astronaut wives, Frances Dumfries Reynolds, and her husband Joe Reynolds. Set when they first met in 1948, it follows social norms closely while still giving Frances, an admiral’s daughter, her own agency. An admiral’s daughter, Frances insists she will never date any of the midshipmen crossing her path in Annapolis, Maryland. But Joe is determined to woo her and win her heart. The story is a bit more traditional, with only a kiss here and there until the two are married, and both are shy and confused virgins on their wedding night. The attention to historical detail is amazing, and the author’s notes on the research they did for all these books are catnip to history junkies like me.  I’m looking forward to more in this series.

The Fly Me to the Moon box set is available on Amazon.

Book Review: The Forgotten Flapper

The idea of novelizing a real person’s life intrigues me, especially when it involves one of my favorite topics, women’s history. THE FORGOTTEN FLAPPER: A NOVEL OF OLIVE THOMAS by Laini Giles uses the construct of a first-person ghost story as the author takes the bare facts of Olive Thomas’ life and weaves them into a juicy celebrity tell-all from the dawn of the silent movie era.

Thomas went from innocent artists’ model to Ziegfield Follies showgirl and followed a path of sex, booze, drugs and luxury to become one of the best-known actresses in the “flickers” before her sudden death at 25. Famous in her own right, Thomas married into the Pickford family, becoming sister-in-law to Mary Pickford but never retaining her place in pop culture history as Mary did. 

Giles paints a complex picture of a complicated woman who was uneducated yet curious, loyal but quick-tempered and impressively independent in an age when women were fighting for the right to vote.  Thoroughly researched and historically accurate, the book recaptures the voice and feel of a long forgotten chapter in show business, and the period settings come alive. It's easy to see turn-of-the-century New York City and Los Angeles in your mind, thanks to Giles' detailed and vibrant sense of place.

THE FORGOTTEN FLAPPER was an enjoyable read, and apparently is the first of a historic series from Giles. Somewhere in the Great Beyond, Olive Thomas is celebrating being in the spotlight again.